Flat continuous wound adhesive tape dispenser and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

A flat tape dispenser of a continuous length of pressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape is wound around a flat panel core producing a more compact, more convenient and easier to carry PSA tape dispenser. The tape utilizes an easy-tear feature. The flat tape dispenser is manufactured by winding the PSA tape on a round shaft of Teflon or a shaft covered by a release liner or release coating. The fully wound PSA tape is removed from the shaft, a flat panel core is inserted and the roll is flattened so the inside seals against the core. Alternatively, the PSA tape is wound on a deformable core and then flattened to its final shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to improvements indispensing of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape and more particularlypertains to a new and improved continuous length ofpressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape packaged in a flat form.

[0003] 2. Description of Prior Art

[0004] In the field of dispensing pressure-sensitive-adhesive tape, ithas been the practice to employ a cylindrical core upon which to windthe continuous length of tape. The resulting rolls of tape have beenunsatisfactory in that they are bulky to carry. As a result, the priorart has attempted to devise a flat pad for dispensingpressure-sensitive-adhesive tape. However, the prior art approach tosuch flat pads has itself produced a shortcoming in that the flat padsare necessarily made up of a number of individual strips of tape havingpredefined lengths. This prevents a user from dispensing a tape from thepad that is longer than the length of the individual strips in the pad.Other attempts to make flat pad tape dispensers have resulted in simplyflattening a core and winding tape around the flat core, or flattening awound roll of tape. Those approaches are either time consuming, resultin a flat tape dispenser with wrinkled tape, or produce a dispenser witha relatively short length of tape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention provides a flat tape dispenser of acontinuous length of pressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape of up to 100meters (m) in length wound around a flat panel core. The flat tapedispenser is more compact and can be more conveniently carried and usedthan tape dispensers using a cylindrical core. The PSA tape preferablyuses an easy-tear feature. The flat tape dispenser is manufactured bywinding the desired length of PSA tape on a shaft that is either made ofTeflon, is Teflon coated, or has a release coating or release linercoating it. The PSA tape, when fully wound, is removed from the shaft.The roll is pressed flat. A panel of an appropriate size is inserted inthe resulting slot in the center of the flattened tape roll. Thesomewhat flattened tape roll is then pressed again to seal the insideagainst the inserted panel to form a flat tape dispenser.

[0006] In an alternate embodiment, the tape is wound on a core ofcorrugated paper or a thin film plastic core, both of which aredeformable. The wound roll with its deformable core is then pressed flatto produce the flat tape dispenser without wrinkling the wound tape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The exact nature of this invention as well as its objects andadvantages will be readily appreciated as it becomes better understoodby reference to the following detailed description when considered inconjunction with accompanying drawings in which like reference numeralsdesignate like parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first step in the manufacture ofthe present invention;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a core of an element of thepresent invention;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention in its finalform;

[0011]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternate approach to themanufacture of the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 5 is perspective view of the resulting product;

[0013]FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the sequence of steps in apreferred process of manufacture of the present invention; and

[0014]FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the sequence of steps in analternate preferred method of manufacture.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0015] Refer first to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 which indicate a first preferredembodiment of the flat continuous tape dispenser of the presentinvention. FIG. 1 illustrates the winding of a continuous length of tape11 into a standard roll 15 on a cylinder 13. The cylinder 13 is coatedwith a release material or is wound with a release liner, or in thealternative, may be made out of Teflon or be Teflon coated, all for thepurpose of allowing the roll 15, when it is wound to its desired length,to be removed from cylinder 13. The tape 11 wound into the roll 15 maybe up to 100 meters long, for example. The PSA tape itself would be inthe range of 0.001 to 0.005 inches thick. The result is a roll 15 ofpressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape wound about itself without a corewith the inside 17 of the roll 15 being coated with adhesive.

[0016] If a release liner is used to permit the removal of roll 15 fromcylinder 13, the release liner is removed prior to the next step. Theroll is then pressed flat, causing the round central aperture 17 tobecome more or less of a slot.

[0017] A panel 19, which is preferably the same width as the roll oftape 15, is inserted into the flattened aperture 17. The panel may havea thickness of between 1 to 10 mm, and preferably between 3 to 5 mm. Itmay be rectangular in shape, for example, being two inches wide and fiveinches long.

[0018] After the panel 19 is inserted into the flattened aperture 17,the roll 18 is pressed again causing a flat, continuous wound adhesivetape dispenser, as shown in FIG. 3, with the inside of the tape aperture17 bonded to the panel 19.

[0019] The tape 11 utilized to create this flat, continuous woundadhesive tape dispenser is preferably the kind of tape described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/373,314 filed Aug. 12, 1999 for A TapeHaving Finger-Tearing Feature assigned to the same assignee as in thepresent application. The disclosure of that application is herebyincorporated by reference as is fully set forth herein.

[0020] The panel 19 may have decorative designs thereon or advertisingas desired by the wholesale customer. It is further contemplated thatthe flat roll 15 can be delivered to a customer without a panel 19inserted therein. This allows the customer to insert a panel 19 of hisown design as desired. The customer would then seal the internalsurfaces 17 of the roll 15 to panel 19. The resulting flattened adhesivetape dispenser shown in FIG. 3 allows the designs or advertisementspresent on panel 19 to show through the tape. More important, theresulting shape of the tape dispenser is more convenient to carry inone's pocket than a round roll 15, especially one that has 100 meters(m) of tape thereon.

[0021] Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, an alternate preferred embodimentof the invention is to wind a pressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape 23in a roll onto a cylindrical core 27 which is deformable. The inventorshave found that a deformable core made from corrugated material or thinfilm plastic would be effective. The roll 25 is then flattened toproduce the flat continuous wound tape dispenser shown in FIG. 5. Priorto flattening, the inside of the core 27 is coated with an adhesive sothat once flattened, core 27 will stay flat.

[0022] It has been discovered by the inventors that the inside diameterof rolls 15 and 25 should preferably be no greater than 3 inches, thepreferable range of diameters being from 1 inch to 3 inches. Utilizing alarger diameter core will cause the tape roll 15 and 25 to wrinkle whenbeing flattened as a result of the tape delaminating from the core.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 6, which shows the steps of the process forproducing the product illustrated in FIG. 3, the first step 29 is towind the tape 11 on a cylinder 13 which has a release surface. Once thetape is wound, the roll is capable of being removed. The second step 31is to remove the roll from cylinder 13. The roll is then flattened asthe third step 33. A flat panel core 19 is then inserted into the centeras the fourth step 35. The flat panel core is sealed into the centerslot of the flattened roll, as the fifth and last step 37, producing theproduct shown in FIG. 3.

[0024]FIG. 7 illustrates the process of manufacturing using a deformablecore. The first step is to wind the tape 25 on a deformable core 27which is traditionally held on a spindle (not shown). Once the tape isfully wound, adhesive is placed inside the inside surfaces of the core27 as the second step 41. The third step 43 is to flatten the tape andcore, creating the product shown in FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tape dispenser for pressure-sensitive-adhesive (PSA) tape, comprising: a flat core; and a length of said PSA tape under 100 meters in length wound around said flat core; whereby a flat pad of continuous tape that can be conveniently carried is produced.
 2. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein said flat core is up to two inches wide, up to 5 inches long and up to 3 mm thick.
 3. The tape dispenser of claim 2 wherein said PSA tape is between 0.001 and 0.005 inches thick.
 4. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein said flat core is the same width as the tape and is 1 to 10 mm thick.
 5. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein the flat core is 3 to 5 mm thick.
 6. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein the flat core has designs or advertisements thereon that is seen through the clear PSA tape wound around it.
 7. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein the PSA tape utilizes an easy-tear feature that allows any length of tape to be separated from the dispenser pad by hand, without a cutting edge.
 8. A method of manufacturing a tape dispenser of continuous pressure-sensitive-adhesive tape, the steps of the method comprising: winding a continuous length of said tape on a cylinder coated with a release material to a desired roll; removing the wound roll of tape from the cylinder, wherein the roll of tape is without a core at its center; flattening the coreless roll of tape without completely collapsing the space in the center of the roll; inserting a substantially flat core into the center; and flattening the tape again so that the center seals against the flat core; whereby a flat tape dispenser of continuous tape results.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the release material on the cylinder is a release liner.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein the cylinder is made of Teflon material.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein the substantially flat core is the same width as the tape and between 1 to 10 mm thick.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein the substantially flat core is the same width as the tape and between 3 to 5 mm thick.
 13. The method of claim 8 wherein the continuous length of tape is about 0.003 inches thick.
 14. The method of claim 8 wherein the continuous length of tape is up to 2 inches wide and up to 100 meters in length.
 15. The method of claim 8 wherein the substantially flat core is up to two inches wide, up to five inches long and about 3 mm thick.
 16. The method of claim 9 wherein the release liner is removed from the center of the roll before the tape roll is flattened.
 17. The method of claim 8 wherein the substantially flat core has designs or advertising on both sides which show through the tape after being flattened.
 18. The method of claim 8 wherein the cylinder is between one inch and three inches in diameter.
 19. A method of manufacturing a tape dispenser of continuous pressure-sensitive-adhesive tape, the steps of the method comprising: winding a continuous length of said tape on a deformable core; placing an adhesive on the internal surfaces of the deformable core; and flattening the tape so that the internal surfaces of the core seals against themselves causing a flat tape dispenser of continuous tape.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the deformable core is corrugated.
 21. The method of claim 19 wherein the deformable core is made of thin film plastic.
 22. The method of claim 19 wherein the deformable core is between 1 to 10 mm thick.
 23. The method of claim 19 wherein the deformable core is between 3 to 5 mm thick.
 24. The method of claim 19 wherein the tape is about 0.003 inches thick.
 25. The method of claim 19 wherein the tape is up to 2 inches wide and up to 100 meters in length.
 26. The method of claim 19 wherein the core is between one inch and three inches in diameter. 